Global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions grew by 0.9% in 2022, or 321 million tonnes, reaching a new high of more than 36.8 billion tonnes, according to a new report.
The new International Energy Agency (IEA) analysis published today (Thursday, March 2) shows that the increase was “less than initially feared” as the growth of renewables helped to limit the impact of increased coal and oil use during the global energy crisis.
Although the 2022 increase was “far smaller” than the “exceptional jump” of over 6% the previous year, the IEA said that energy-related emissions “still remain on an unsustainable growth trajectory”.
The CO2 Emissions in 2022 report calls for stronger actions to accelerate the clean energy transition and move the world onto a path towards meeting its energy and climate goals.
CO2 emissions from coal grew by 1.6% with more countries turning to the fossil fuel following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which impacted on gas supplies.
Emissions from oil increased by 2.5% but still remained below pre-pandemic levels. Around half of the year-on-year increase in oil’s emissions came from aviation as air travel continued to rebound.
The report shows that emissions in the European Union fell by 2.5% due to the record deployment of renewables.
China’s emissions were broadly flat in 2022 as strict Covid-19 measures and declining construction activity led to weaker economic growth.
In the US, emissions grew by 0.8% as buildings increased their energy consumption to cope with extreme temperatures.
Energy
The IEA said that extreme weather events such as droughts and heatwaves, as well as an unusually large number of nuclear power plants being offline, contributed to the rise in emissions.
However, an additional 550 million tonnes of emissions were avoided by increased deployment of clean energy technologies such as solar and wind.
Commenting on the report, Dr. Fatih Birol, IEA executive director said:
“Without clean energy, the growth in CO2 emissions would have been nearly three times as high.
“However, we still see emissions growing from fossil fuels, hindering efforts to meet the world’s climate targets.
“International and national fossil fuel companies are making record revenues and need to take their share of responsibility, in line with their public pledges to meet climate goals.
“It’s critical that they review their strategies to make sure they’re aligned with meaningful emissions reductions,” he said.